Sjogren's World Staff
Scottie
Sjogren's World Chat Host, UK, Forum Moderator
Hello – Scottie here. Well, Linda actually, but Sjogren's World has a ‘Linda’ already – so I’ll stick with Scottie!
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, I now live in the North East of England with my long suffering husband and grown-up children, who, by the time you have read this, will have flown the nest.
Born in 1952 (do your maths and I won’t have to update the bio yearly!) I went to Glasgow School of Art, specialised in ceramics and moved to the north of Scotland to be a potter. I met my husband there. He was in the merchant navy. I left work and traveled the world with him and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
The next twenty years were spent bringing up children, the hardest job I’ve ever done. I get bored easily though – not to mention broke – and so I did intermittent work as a pottery teacher, a painter of miniature houses, a face painter, a song writer, a puppeteer and a tutor. I taught communication through drama to young adults with learning difficulties.
Once the kids were old enough I realised I needed a ‘proper’ job, so I went back to college to get some qualifications.
I’m now a youth worker and basic skills tutor and combine the two, working in alternative education. I work part time. Youth work is a great job – you get paid to have fun! Where else do you get paid for going go-karting, skiing, sailing, bowling, hill walking, mountain biking, etc?
Of course there’s a lot of that I can’t do any more but I do what I can.
Basically I hit fifty and fell to bits! Since the onset of menopause I’ve been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Lupus, IBS and osteo-arthritis. I’ve collected far too many ‘ologists’ and am doing my best not to collect any more.
My hobbies are singing with a group of women – (we’re not a ‘choir’ – we sing in a group because none of us are confident enough to sing individually!) – and my computer, which is how I found Sjogren's World.
Every cloud has a silver lining and the people I’ve met at Sjogren's World are mine.
I feel very privileged to have been asked to become a part of it and look forward to meeting you at “Chat” (European time)
Scottie
